Thursday, April 26, 2007



965. Shoemaker's lap anvil, placed on the legs when in use, also can be used during travel.














966. Furniture maker's webbing stretcher.














967. Ruger drill, from the earliest days of what was to become Strum, Ruger & Company, Inc., it dates back to 1940's, before the company had become a well known small arms manufacturer.


Drill bits can be stored in the bottom of the handle.

From Jim Brown's collection.










968. Ednalite Electric Projection Pointer, precursor to the laser pointer.


According to the instructions: "Projects a brilliant and powerful beam of light in the shape of a sharp, concise arrow onto a chart, slide, painting or other visual presentation in the darkroom or in daylight."












969a. Policeman's come-along, or chain nipper, placed around a prisoner's wrist to lead him. When this is on put your wrist and then twisted, it's surprisingly painful, so it's useful when dealing with uncooperative prisoners.




969b. Mechanical nipper












The photos are all close-ups of parts of a computer keyboard that are normally hidden from sight.
970a. Removing some typing keys reveals this view:


A simple way to remove the keys is to take a medium size paper clip and bend the very end into a hook, then slip it under a key and pull up, they come off very easily.



970b. This is the key matrix:

Larger expanded view of this photo




970c. In the foreground is the numbers lock LED:



970d. Rubber dome switches, these make contact with the key matrix and then push the key back up:







970e. Bottom view of a typing key:




More info on the inside of a computer keyboard can be seen here.


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Years ago Yankee magazine had a Whatsit column in which they would show an unusual tool for people to figure out, and in 1975 they created a book with 100 of the best devices published so far. I saw a copy of Yankees's Book of Whatsits at an auction and found a used copy on Amazon for a very good price, there are still some available if anyone is interested.

























































Last week's set is seen below, click here to view the entire post:








More discussion and comments on these photos can be found at the newsgroup rec.puzzles.